Home Jennifer Paterson

Editorial: Wrapping up 2022 with healthy outcomes, award winners and a glimpse at the future of work

The autumn is typically a busy one for the industry, but this year was especially eventful over at Benefits Canada. After a brief hiatus, the long-standing Healthy Outcomes Conference returned in October. This year, it was an in-person event designed for employers to exchange ideas and best practices for achieving improved employee health outcomes. Nearly […]

  • December 16, 2022 December 15, 2022
  • 09:00

How BlackBerry’s wellness and spirituality rooms encourage employees to take a break

Ten years ago, while BlackBerry Ltd. was moving from its head office near the University of Waterloo campus to a complex of three office buildings in the city, it took the opportunity to use feedback from employees to influence how it built its new space. A wellness room and a spirituality room were among the requests […]

  • December 16, 2022 December 15, 2022
  • 08:58

Editorial: Pandemic shining a spotlight on two black sheep benefits

In the midst of the enduring conversation about the changing nature of work and the workplace, some often underappreciated — and potentially underused — benefits have taken centre stage during the coronavirus pandemic. This month, Benefits Canada is exploring two black sheep of the benefits plan: employer-provided travel coverage and vision benefits. In English idiom, […]

  • November 18, 2022 November 17, 2022
  • 09:00

BGIS wins mental-health award for integrated approach to employee support

BGIS Global Integrated Solutions Canada was recognized in the Mental health program category for employers with more than 1,000 employees at the 2022 Workplace Benefits Awards on Oct. 18 for its integrated approach to supporting employees. In July 2021, the facility management company created its BGIS Balance Committee, comprised of 21 employees from various positions […]

  • November 2, 2022 November 3, 2022
  • 09:00

Telus wins award for supporting employees’ holistic well-being

Telus Communications Inc. was recognized for supporting employees’ holistic well-being as it took home the award for Health/wellness program for an employer with more than 1,000 employees at Benefits Canada‘s 2022 Workplace Benefits Awards on Oct. 18. Acknowledging its staff are all somewhere on the well-being continuum and that each person’s situation and goals are […]

  • October 31, 2022 November 2, 2022
  • 09:00

Editorial: Looking back and ahead as Benefits Canada celebrates 45 years

The first issue of Benefits Canada hit the desks of the country’s human resources, benefits, pension and investment professionals in 1977, four years before I was born. That same year, Canada’s inflation rate was eight per cent, very close to July 2022’s annualized inflation rate of 7.6 per cent. A lot has changed in 45 […]

  • October 14, 2022 October 13, 2022
  • 09:00

Editorial: Learning from women who are leading by example

While we speak regularly with outstanding women in the human resources, benefits, pension and investment industries, our annual Women’s Issue allows us to take a broader view, including how these women’s careers have evolved, their perspectives on mentorship and work-life balance, as well as their thoughts about pay equity and gender diversity. When I wrote […]

  • September 16, 2022 September 15, 2022
  • 09:00

2022 CAP Member Survey: Perceptions of CAPs against a changing economic landscape

After a tough couple of years, Canadians continue to face several challenges against an increasingly turbulent economic landscape. While most coronavirus restrictions were lifted in late spring 2022, the seventh wave of the pandemic arrived in July alongside rising inflation, which is compounding prices from the gas pump to the grocery store. Though the 2022 […]

  • September 16, 2022 September 27, 2022
  • 08:56

Editorial: Employers embracing innovation, flexibility in DC plan design

The uniting theme at the 2022 Defined Contribution Plan Summit was financial wellness, a chief concern for any employer that offers a pension plan to its workforce. In particular, with inflation reaching its highest level in four decades and people facing several competing financial priorities, including simple day-to-day expenses, plan sponsors are bringing flexibility to […]

  • August 12, 2022 August 11, 2022
  • 09:00

2022 DC Plan Summit coverage: What’s next for DC plans?

The 2022 Defined Contribution Plan Summit, which was hosted in Victoria, B.C. on May 11-13, featured several case studies from innovative DC plan sponsors, as well as presentations by thought leaders to help employers embrace their employees’ evolving financial priorities and prepare for the future. Across the two-day event, the themes included: rethinking retirement in […]

  • August 12, 2022 August 11, 2022
  • 08:54